Till the Drums Are Silent
by Servant of Fire
Summary: Watson and Holmes stand by each other, till the end of the drums.


**Till the Drums Are Silent~**

**For my Friend-It's You and Me till the drums are silent...;)**

_We are brothers, not in blood, but in bond you and I...That chain is heavy. I am sorry for this.._

A miracle they have always been able to speak with their eyes. The lamps of Holmes' soul are truly abysmal, the light in him darkness-oh great is that darkness! But into that darkness shines Watson's somewhere- shade- of- green- light. The light is smiling into those caverns. Saying that ,though there is a noose about Holmes' neck, all is well.

"Always good to see you, Watson." Holmes smiles, showing all his teeth, that burn like stars in his darkness.

Watson furrows his brows. "What got you in this fix, old cock?"

Holmes looks at the Hangman, "Will you tell him, or shall I? You'll have to explain it to the courts,anyway, when they've caught ,of course, Lestrade and his boys will come...but they will be too late."

The Hangman laughs..."Ah, Holmes, you are a fool, though aren't you? Well, Watson, it's like this. Leave it to the brightest mind of the 20th century to take it apoun himself to ,instead of being,as he is proclaimed to be, so VERY clever, and finding yourselves a way out of all this, Holmes has decided to take your place in the Ritual."

Watson's eyes light up like he's been punched in the gut, totally confused. "What are you on about?"

Holmes puffs, clucking his tounge, "Reaaaaallllly, Watson, 'tis not so hard..."The Hangman stomped his foot,

"Am I tellin' this or are you?!" he snarled.

"Fine.."Holmes waves a hand,blinking painfully, allowing him to continue.

"We has to make Holmes suffer and pay for the end he brought to our Lord Blackwood, of course we do...Now "without the shedding of blood,there is no remissions of sins". We gave him two options 1) We kill the old Doctor and his missus in a very-pretty-not-so-pretty way, or 2) he helps us devise his own murder, creates a cloak-and-dagger case that he PRETENDS to be solving, that is an act to cause sensation ,that the papers catch a wiff of ,like sparks or such,and wippety-do we're bloody well famous. Then Mr. Holmes concludes the case,by giving hisself into our hands, and we kill him and leave him for the bobbies to find, and the papers to rave about, and so he suffers ,indeed, because the Doctor suffers ,but the Doctor's precious hide goes ,as yet, untouched." then the Hangman, an ugly little man,with furry can't-quite-place-the-color hair,large lips,and beady black eyes,smiles wickedly...

"What Holmes doesn't know is that Watson's made a deal with the devil ,as well. To be hanged ,right and proper, in the place of old magics, so that Mrs. Watson, and Holmes' hisself, can get off Scott-man-free. But he don't know about Holmes devil dealing ,though,either-"

"No,really, he'd blindly walk into such a trap-"Holmes sniffs at him, "Oi,shut it, and count your words and blessings, mate, you aint got long to live."

"Alright, get on with it then. I don't suppose the devil will like to be kept waiting."Watson cuts the man off, and shrugs ,and climbs the scaffold, and lets them put the noose on him.

Holmes looks side-long at him. Watson looks back,

"What?...You said yourself its always nice to have someone on whom you can ,thoroughly,rely..."

"Yes, but it isn't very nice for said someone to go and get his foolish self killed ,on my behalf!"

Watson raises his brows,and tilts his head, smiling maniacally...

"Oh? Humm,...So, what was it you were doing,exactly?"

The way Holmes curls his bottom lip tells Watson that he'd won.

"And anyway, two pairs of boots are better than one, isn't that what they say?"

"It was something,I think, more along the way of heads, and thinking...And, oh this is taking them a devishly long time to do, ...I'd assume they'd just kill us and it be done, without all this dramatic flare..."Holmes sniffs,twitching the beginnings of whiskers ,forming beneath his nose. Watson just rolls his eyes, and looks heaven-ward.

The fire lights behind them.

"Ah. Well, I suppose it makes more sense now. But, perhaps we should be getting on with it ,now? I wouldn't want to miss the Devil's Dinner. Gluttony being a deadly sin, he must have fine meals down the Last -Road-Sinners-Take..."Holmes crows,practically.

"Oi,SHUT UP,Holmes!" one of the wizard's shouts...

"Whatever they are doing ,it will take them ,at least, a fortnight. Oh!, Lestrade could get here faster!"Holmes taps his foot, impatiently.

Watson feels his lips forming a smirk.

"Why,in the name of the Saints, are you smiling?"

Watson laughs, and shakes his head, "You never can just WAIT...can you?, not even when it's time to die. Easy,old boy, it'll be over soon enough."

Holmes puffed irritatedly,twitching his hands, "It all seems rather pointless though, if you've decided to die for me, and I've decided to die for you..."

Watson grunts in agreement, "S'pose there's no other way for us to go. See, it's like this. You won't allow me to die for you, and I won't allow you to die for me, so simply we'll just have to die together, or not at all."

He turns to Holmes, who smiles. "Shall we shake on that ,then?"Holmes cries, offering a hand,eyes glittering..."I second, I third it!No other way to fly...Watson!-this rope is itchy..."

"Shut it, Holmes...It will be over when it's over...We only have to do it once,after all."

Watson closes his eyes,and reflects on the life that's about to be over,and is entwined ,to its very end, with the man ,twitchily awaiting said ending,beside him. The thought occurs to him ,that he is going to give his life ,without a second thought ,or feeling, as to the loss, and that he's totally ,ABSURDLY, ok with this...Intially, it had been intended to save Holmes' life. And ,truthfully, he didn't know what Holmes had done, but why is he not suprised?

His only regret is that they won't walk away from this, to laugh about it later. Or will they? He doesn't rightly know how it will end. But,he sends a prayer of thanks, that it will end with Mary alive,and safe as much is certain.

There is one more thing that is certain...Whatever terrible death they face (_what in blazes were they beating on over there?Building something..._"So are these nooses merely accesories,then?"Holmes calls, lifting his like a tie ,to be replied to with a stiff "SHUT UP!") Whatever terrible death, or perhaps rescue...(once Lestrade finally drug his ratty self in here) it would end with Holmes.

"You and me till the final drum, old boy..."Watson mutters, and Holmes' head swivels about to look at him.

"Naturally..."Holmes quips, with a bright-as-stars smile, as the drums begin to sound.

"And, you and me, again, when the drums are silent..."

The beating was rolling away, like the rush of Watson's heart, the fire in his breast ,as death was actualized with the approach of the Hangman.

Would Lestrade show up in time to stop this?

Whether he did or not didn't matter to Watson now. The bond that brought them here, was a choice resolved, was a court adjourned. Watson and Holmes, till the drums were silent, till even their echoes fade.

"Here we stand" Holmes said, bowing his head,reverently, as if surrendering his soul to the Lord.

**The End?**


End file.
